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She reflects on her post-war childhood in a house with few books, on the local library that fed her omnivorous reading, and on knowing at the age of six — much to her mother's astonishment the night before her tonsil operation — that she wanted to be a writer. She traces the chance newspaper advert that took her to Dundee at seventeen to work for DC Thomson, and the writing routine she still keeps today: mornings in pyjamas, another quiet hour before supper while her wife cooks.

She lifts the lid just a little on her new book, Esme Pepper, due this autumn — another girl in care, but a very different girl from Tracy Beaker, and one whose story somehow involves garden gnomes. Answering questions sent in by local schoolchildren and Instagram followers, she explains why she writes about children at the edges of family life rather than the comfortable middle, which of her own characters she'd most like to live as, the one subject she long resisted writing about, and the classic she thinks is overdue a fresh retelling.

Part two picks up with the question we leave hanging here: if she could give every child three books at birth, what would they be?

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In this new format Eastbourne Literary Festival podcast episode, people are asked to share with us the 5 books that mean the most to them and why. This episode explores 5 books that mean the world to author and technologist, Charles Humble, including:

• "The Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Grahame
•  "Last Chance to See" by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine
• "The Passion" by Jeanette Winterson
• "Seven Brief Lessons on Physics" by Carlo Rovelli
• "Wolf Hall" by Hilary Mantel

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Some of the references from this show:

• "Save the Cat" by Blake Snyder
• "Bent is not Broken" by M J Buckman
• "Women of Note" by M J Buckman

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Ed has also just published a picturebook especially for a younger audience called “The Kind Wasp” and is working on a new novel “The Five O’Clock Club” to be published in 2026.

Some of the references from this show include:

• "Broadlake" by Ed Bingham
• "The Kind Wasp" by Ed Bingham
• "A Night at the Opera" by Queen
• "Telegraph Road" by Dire Straits

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Louise Morrish is a historical fiction author and librarian from Hampshire. She writes stories inspired by the lives of women in the past, who achieved extraordinary things, but whom history has forgotten.

Louise always knew she wanted to write books, but it wasn’t until her late 30s that she finally had the chance to take her hobby seriously. In 2012 she completed the Faber online ‘Write Your Novel’ course, and then, armed with a manuscript, she began the submission process.

Her debut novel was Operation Moonlight and it won the Penguin Random House First Novel competition. Just recently Louise has also released her new novel “Women of War”.

Some of the references from this show include:

• "In Memoriam" by Alice Winn
• "The Blazing World" by Jonathan Healey
• "Jane Austen's Bookshelf" by Rebecca Romney
• "Muckraker" by W. Sidney Robinson
• "The Art of a Lie" by Laura Shepherd-Robinson
• "Life Cycle of a Moth" by Rowe Irvin
• "The Rush" by Beth Lewis
• "Operation Tulip by Deborah Swift
• "The Owl Was A Baker's Daughter" by Grace Tiffany

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Charles writes regularly for many publications, is a highly experienced content strategist, and has spoken at many international conferences. Most recently Charles has published “The Developer's Guide to Cloud Infrastructure , Efficiency and Sustainability” at TheNewStack and he’s a valued member of the Software Inklings, an online community that look to provide a friendly environment for writers in technology to flourish.

Some of the references from this show include:

• "Writing For Story" by Jonathan Franklin
• "White Beech: The Rainforest Years" by Germaine Greer
• Fellow Tech Writers: Anne Currie, Holly Cumins and Jennifer Riggins
• "On Writing Well" by William Zinsser
• "What You Are Looking for Is in the Library" by Michiko Aoyama
• Mr B's Emporium in Bath and their incredible book subscription services

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As well as now being a best-selling novelist, Julia Raeside is a journalist and broadcaster who has written for the Guardian, Times, Observer and The Big Issue among others. She makes regular contributions to BBC Radio, including review spots on Radio 4s Front Row and Lauren Laverne’s 6 Music show.

These podcasts are such a joy and we had such a wonderful time chatting with Julia about how she writes, reads and embraces having her brilliant debut novel, "Don't Make Me Laugh" now out on the shelves.

Some of the references from this episode:

• Daisy Buchanan
• Nisha Dolan-
• Katie Wix
• Nora Ephron
• Charlotte Runcie
• Minette Walters
• Cecil Sharp House

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Luke has been a journalist for 15 years, working for TV shows like This Morning, The One Show and Loose Women, as well as magazines and newspapers such as The Times, The Mirror, Metro, New!, Cosmopolitan and Glamour. As well as exploring his unhealthy-but-wonderful thematic obsession with serial killers, we enjoyed a wonderful chat around how Luke writes, how he approaches writing deep and rich female characters and the trepidation and wonders of television and film book adaption.

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